Pyranometers and Reference Cells, What's the Difference?: Preprint

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As the photovoltaic industry has grown exponentially in the past decade, large photovoltaic (PV) fields have become more common. The investors for these projects calculate the expected return on investment based on expected electricity generation and adjust the interest rates and other financial terms according to the perceived risk. These calculations usually assume worst case according to the listed warranty and any uncertainty in the measurement is translated directly into a reduced predicted performance. Because a 1% difference in predicted output could represent a large fraction of the expected return on investment, a small reduction in uncertainty translates into a ...
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Description

As the photovoltaic industry has grown exponentially in the past decade, large photovoltaic (PV) fields have become more common. The investors for these projects calculate the expected return on investment based on expected electricity generation and adjust the interest rates and other financial terms according to the perceived risk. These calculations usually assume worst case according to the listed warranty and any uncertainty in the measurement is translated directly into a reduced predicted performance. Because a 1% difference in predicted output could represent a large fraction of the expected return on investment, a small reduction in uncertainty translates into a much larger value to the entity making investment decisions. To reduce perceived risk in large-scale solar investments power plant performance (or production) guarantees have become increasingly common. This two part article explores some subtleties of accurately measuring PV efficiency in the field.

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